At Lord’s, time once shuffled along intermittently and greyly. Worsted suits
were in, women were out and the 20th century crashed merrily about outside
the gates mostly unnoticed.

But time eats away at even the most dusty institutions. And since 1999, when women were at last admitted as MCC members, a combination of forward-looking architecture and thoughtful people at the top have modernised the place.

The MCC has made its overseas tours carbon neutral, started paying female cricketers and opened their arms to Twenty20 matches – or the great unwashed as a stripey off-message member recently put it.

But nothing the MCC has done has been as radical as what happened on Monday: they handed the place over to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games in preparation for its archery tournament. Arrows not balls, Koreans not the English, will dominate until the start of August.

The gorgeous pavilion – to some a symbol of the pinnacle of the game, to others representative of spoon-fed privilege – is being taken over by the International Olympic Committee.

Make of that what you will. The MCC’s media team are now working on location and the MCC chief executive, Derek Brewer, has been turfed out. Brewer’s lovely first-floor office, with an unbeatable view of the ground, is going to be used as the doping centre, with archers pacing the portrait-lined corridors on the way to give their samples.

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That sloping emerald carpet outside, both exceptionally and very expensively well drained, is this moment being trodden on by a team of builders in high-visibility jackets.

The precious square, though, remains off limits, with Mick Hunt and his team of ground staff tending and watering as organised chaos slips around them.

Some track has already been laid on the outfield, which is going to be turned into a kind of tunnel down which the archers send their arrows, with tiered seating on either side, and a stream of vans has been delivering equipment in readiness for the tournament that begins on July 27.

Soon the MCC flag on the Grand Stand will be taken down (though the one on the clock tower will remain) and the three flags flying on top of the pavilion will be the Union Flag and the IOC and Locog flags. It is a bit like handing over the crown jewels.

The last time that the keys were handed over was during the Second World War when the RAF effectively requisitioned the place. Although the ground was used for some cricket, especially towards the end of the war, it acted as a reception centre for RAF air crew. The Nursery Ground, which was hit by an oil bomb, was used as an exercise and drill area.

The cable from a nearby barrage balloon got tangled up with Old Father Time and lifted him from his perch on top of the Grand Stand. He fell but was rescued and polished up.

He is thought to be safe from attack this time around. Lord’s has hosted other sports in the past, though not recently – international hockey was played on the main ground in the 1970s, lacrosse in the 1950s and baseball towards the end of the 19th century and famously during 1917 when Canadian and American servicemen had a match in aid of Canadian War charities.

There are even vague references in the minutes to parts of the ground being handed over to archery in the mid-19th century, though any MCC members who fancy checking this out in the library over the next month will find themselves escorted to and from the door by Locog staff.

The archery will finish on Aug 3. Less than two weeks later, England play South Africa in the third and final Test of the series. John Stephenson, the MCC’s head of cricket, has gently tried to prepare players and spectators for the less-than-perfect lawn that will be left behind.

No one knows the outcome, though it cannot be worse than the carnage found on other grounds after pop concerts. The MCC will try to blot out what might happen if someone trips on a divot running to take a crucial series-winning catch.

It should be a win-win situation. Lord’s will get international recognition beyond its wildest dreams and a relaid pitch, courtesy of Locog, come the autumn. Archers get an iconic arena in which to fly their arrows. MCC members got first dibs at tickets.

The only disappointment is to those spectators hoping to soak up the traditional Lord’s atmosphere of a hand-pulled ale in one hand and The Daily Telegraph in the other. For that they will have to visit the Tavern pub just outside the ground: the hand-pulled pint is not an official drink of the Games.